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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 5361788" data-attributes="member: 59082">Hmm...you seem to be saying that D&D is to RPGs what Phil Collins and Barry Manilow are to pop music: shmaltzy, run-of-the-mill talents that were popular because of their mediocrity not despite it. I don't think that is true, but that there is something deeply appealing and evocative about D&D that other, more intellectually innovative RPGs haven't been able to capture. It is similar to why J.R.R. Tolkien created one of the great classics of literature but Hal Duncan or Jeff Vandermeer probably never will; Tolkien tapped into something deeply archetypal, that resonates with something soulful within humans, whereas Duncan and Vandermeer--while clever, innovative, and "literary"--don't tap into the same depths and thus don't inspire in the same way.If I have to make a musical analogy, I suppose D&D is more like classic rock, the Beatles or Doors or Pink Floyd, none of which are necessarily the best music ever created but offered something real, something archetypal to the consciousness of the modern era. I am saying that D&D is to the RPG world what The Lord of the Rings is to fantasy literature. The are "better" books than LotR, there are ideas that are just as imaginative, characters much more deeply realized, more intricate and cleverly wrought plots. But LotR is a true classic; it is the fantasy novel of the 20th century, the central, defining text. This is not to say that it is impossible that another RPG comes along and redefines the field and opens up new realms of possibility. Actually, Vampire did this, and maybe a few others on different scales. But why is it that most RPGers go back to, or never leave, D&D? Is it the same reason that most people buy Kleenex and not other brands of tissue? That certainly plays a part. But I think there is much more to it than that, and that "much moreness" is where things get interesting and, perhaps, worth exploring when we're discussing the future of the hobby.</blockquote>

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